An ongoing research project is devoted to the design and implementation of a satellite based asset tracking for supporting emergency management in crisis operations. Due to the emergency environment, one has to rely on a low power consumption wireless communication. Therefore, the communication hardware and software must be designed to match requirements, which can only be foreseen at the level of more or less likely scenarios. The latter aspect suggests a deep use of a simulator (instead of a real network of sensors) to cover extreme situations. The former power consumption remark suggests the use of a minimal computer (Raspberry Pi) as data collector.